"We Could Keep Things Just the Same, Leave Here the Way We Came, With Nothing to Lose, But I Don't Want To"

So you all probably know that I'm officially back in the states! However, my last week in Gaming may have been the best week of the semester so I just want to fill you all in on that and give some closure to the semester and this blog.

So on Friday my beautiful household sisters Chrissy and Mandi went to the Spar and bought "fun lemonade" for us five Madonna of the Streets girls. "Fun lemonade" is Chrissy's name for the alcoholic lemonade that the Spar sells. So that evening, after Chrissy and Mandi finished freaking out about their final the next day, we had an MOS hang-out night in Kiki and Alley's room. We basically just goofed off for a couple hours while eating chocolate and drinking fun lemonade. Though unfortunately the fun lemonade was carbonated and I can't stand carbonated drinks so I had to pass on that. But I think Alley was pretty happy that she got an extra drink. The quote of the night came when Mandi said that I was the "backbone sister" and Alley replied that I was the "ninja sister" which led to Mandi's comment that "I want my backbone to be a ninja!" We also finally got a lovely picture of the five of us together:

On Saturday we all had to cram into the Adoration Chapel for Mass because there was a wedding taking place in the big Chapel. That afternoon I had my Intro to Scripture final following which I had just enough time to say a Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet before heading to the Spar with Sarah and Amy to stock up on food for our last movie night. We got back from the Spar just in time to head over to the frisbee fields for the championship frisbee match between the staff team which included Mr. Professor Wolter, Professor Cassidy, Mark Kalpakgian - the Student Life Director, his wife Niki, and other staff and one of the student teams which included two of the Disciples - Tyler and Joseph, and Dr. Asci who apparently told his team that if they lost they would have his six crying children on their consciences. The match was quite enjoyable - Professor Cassidy in particular was fun to watch. Especially when he fouled someone and immediately turned to the ref to tell them it was his fault. His outfit was also rather hilarious. We also found out that Fr. Brad has quite a good throw. Mark's competitive nature also afforded some hilarity - he ended up in a full on argument with one of the student referees (whom he had chosen by the way). However, there were also several terrifying moments in the match, the biggest one being when Mr. Prof. Wolter accidentally ran into a kid and ended up flipping over him and landing on his back. But, he just got back up and kept going. Those ex-Marines are tough! It was also quite fun watching Mrs. Professor Wolter cheering on the sidelines. Amy turned to me at one point and was like "Professor Wolter's wife looks like a fun lady" and I looked over to see her jumping up and down and cheering at the top of her lungs!

After the frisbee game we stopped by the Keller to pick up some pizzas for dinner then headed to Sarah, Maude, and Christa's room for movie night! We watched A Few Good Men, The Sandlot, and something else that I can't remember and ate pizza, ice cream, potato chips, and milka. It was an epic ending to our movie nights.

The next day, Sunday, Sarah and I, along with two other girls, got to have brunch with the Wolters following Mass. It was a lovely morning with some lovely people!

As I attempted to study that afternoon it occured to me what a beautiful day it was and that I hadn't been down to the creek yet so I took my Rosary and climbed down to the creek where I relaxed for about an hour. I then had to hurry back for the Kartause Kids' presentation of Charlotte's Web. The Kartause Kids are what we affectionately call the children of the staff and professors. They had been working hard all semester on a play of Charlotte's Web which they performed for us Sunday afternoon. They were wonderful of course and adorable as always!

We finished exams on Tuesday and had the Austrian Ball that evening! Everyone had either bought or rented traditional Austrian garb (dirndls for the girls, lederhosen for the boys) from the school and the afternoon was spent making ourselves beautiful for our first ball! MOS all ended up in Kiki and Alley's room for a little pre-party. Chrissy and Kiki managed to work a miracle on my hair so that even with my less-than-gorgeous dirndl which I was not entirely pleased with I managed to look kinda beautiful! I then had fun just chilling with my sisters while Kiki worked her magic on Mandi's hair, random people ran in and out begging Kiki to help them with their hair, and Chrissy drank fun lemonade to prepare her to wear a dress for 4 hours.

We then headed over to the Mensa for our Austrian dinner which was nice. A whole group of us then went to the field across the street to take pictures in our Austrian garb. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

We then headed to the ballroom! The first hour or so was devoted to teaching us a traditional Austrian folk dance! It was a blast! And pretty hilarious at times! Oh my, I don't even know what to say! After that they played American music and the rest of the night was pretty much just a typical American dance party. It was so much fun! Definitely one of the best nights of my life - just dancing with my friends and being so in love with the Kartause and the people there, oh my gosh it was amazing!

Wednesday was insanity! I was up relatively early and Amy and I headed to the Spar where they had just re-stocked on Milka and were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale! It was pretty darn exciting!

Then, that afternoon, the amazing Sister Monica took Amy and I on a hike to the waterfall! It was about a one hour hike and it was a blast! I had such a great time! And the waterfall was gorgeous! We even met up with our friend Tyler who was chillin up there.

The rest of the day was devoted to cleaning and packing. Once that was finished, around 9:00 that night, we headed out to the bonfire.

Now MOS and the Disciples had been involved in a prank war for most of the semester. And we had acquired the Disciples' frisbee which they desperately wanted back. So we devised a scavenger hunt for them. We gave them the first clue while we were all at the bonfire and they headed out. The scavenger hunt would take them to sixth track, third floor, the frisbee field, the Wolters' house where they would have to sing A Whole New World for our professors, the watch tower behind the Kartause, the Chapel above the Chapel, the laundry room, the library, then back to the bonfire where they would have to sing a love song that they composed for us. So we send them off on their hunt and we're waiting to see them come back out and head for the frisbee field. But we're waiting and waiting and they're not coming. And we're like what the heck. And then we hear a noise from behind the Kartause. But we're like no way they can't be back there already. Well two minutes later we see them go flying past on bicycles. Cheaters! But anyways then we're like ok they should be done really soon! So we're all getting ready and they're taking forever! And we're like now what?! So Kiki and Alley went inside to look for them and found them in the library rehearsing the song. So of course we were all like AWWWW that's so sweet! And finally they appeared and sang us a very epic love song to the tune of their household song:

Lyrics: Real women imitate our Mother

Love their dear brothers

When all of the jokes are on them

They're sweet and they're loveable

But inside they're beautiful

When nobody's looking

They take all our stuff

And they dance all night

While we put snails and bats on their bedroom floors

When you get past their pranking

There's a heart that just wants to be like

Mary, Mother of God

The only one who could bear God as son

And she couldn't back down with those people around

And she proved for the last time that real women love!

We gave them their frisbee back and then we all climbed up on the wall to watch the bonfire. Just sitting there, singing with them, and watching the fire, with our arms all around each other was one of the best moments of my life. I will always treasure that.

At midnight we headed to the chapel for Midnight Mass. And the entrance hymn was MOS's household song! And every song that night was absolutely perfect! And MOS and the Disciples all sat together - all nine of us squished into one pew! And we received Jesus! And I realized that someday we'll all be together in Heaven and it'll be even better than Gaming!

URS!

So there's a bar down the street from the Kartause called Urs. And pretty much every night you'll hear someone in the Kartause saying the words "Wanna go to Urs?" or "I'm going to Urs." I've never been to Urs. I don't drink and I have this image in my head of bars as evil places of doom. But, it's my last week in Europe and I'm pretty much one of the only people who hasn't been to Urs. So this evening I headed down to Urs with my beautiful household sister Chrissy and our friend Devon.

We got there and there was the usual crowd of Franciscan people. So we grabbed a table and Franciscan's resident drink advisor came over and heard it was my first time at Urs and began to advise me. So I got a frog. Yes, that's the name of the drink. It was actually quite delicious but I have this paranoia about drinking so everyone thought I hated it cuz I wasn't drinking very much. It's funny though, I actually would've liked it better if it didn't have alcohol in it cuz I liked all the fruity tastes but I HATE the taste of alcohol!

But anyways, then Chrissy started this story-telling game and then Devon told us her glory story and I discovered that bars are not necessarily evil places of doom. They can actually be pretty fun if you're with friends and stay sober. And as Devon was telling us her glory story about the train ride back from Lourdes and her insane evangelization I was reminded of something that my dad has told me on several occasions. Apparently there's this song that Imus played on his show one time and one of the lines is "And when you go out drinking with your friends, would you mind if Jesus came along?" And my dad was always like, we wouldn't have minded cuz our conversations always revolved around pro-life and the Church. So I'm sitting there listening to Devon talk about Lourdes and evangelization and I was like DADDY! It made me happy!

And then Chrissy, Devon, and Annie helped me finish my drink cuz Chrissy refused to let us leave until my drink was gone. She was quite adamant that it could not go to waste. And then we headed back. And I've finally been to Urs and it was a blast!

Farewell Vienna!

So this past Saturday my roommate, Amy, and I headed out for a last jaunt in Vienna!

Our first stop was at the world's oldest Ferris wheel for which Vienna is famous! We even got to see a little one-room museum about the Ferris wheel which was kinda cool. We then got on line for the ride and it was pretty darn cool. It's one of those where you actually sit in a nice little enclosed box which is nice cuz you don't feel like you could at any moment fall out of the sky. And these were classy little ferris wheel cars, with tables and benches, we even saw one classy box go by with a table cloth and wine glasses! I think that one costs extra. So then we got in our box and Amy was pretty psyched and I was starting to get nervous. See I'm a bit claustrophobic so being stuck in a box for who knows how long kinda freaks me out. And with my luck I'd have a panic attack at the very top when you're farthest away from safety and it would take forever to get back down and I'd die. Or that's how my mind works when I start to get nervous. So the door closes, we take off, Amy's on the other side of the car taking pictures, and I start whipping out my medicine and my sour patch bunnies and I'm like "AMY! I'm nervous, tell me jokes!" But apparently it's hard for people to be funny on command so she wasn't much help. But then the medicine kicked in and I felt much better. So then I was up, bopping around, taking pictures. It was pretty darn cool! I'm really glad we went! And it wasn't as long a ride as I thought it would be! So that made me happy. I actually would've been happy if we had gone around a second or third time. But yeah it was really cool!

So then we hopped off and booked it to St. Stephan's Cathedral for Mass. We were kinda late but it was okay cuz it was Mass at St. Stephan's which has actually come to be one of my favorite Cathedral's in Europe (aka the world). And they still use the altar rail and you can kneel for Communion! That made me SO happy! I wish we at least had that option at Mass, it just makes it so special.


After Mass we headed to the Naschmarkt or open air market where I bought a plethora of scarves and a couple other miscellaneous souvenirs. And the next thing we knew it was time to catch our train.

While we were in the Stephansplatz metro station we found a chapel that had been discovered when they were building the metro station. Yeah there's just this random some-hundred years old Chapel chilling in the metro station. Welcome to Europe!

And then of course we got off the train at the wrong stop and have to train it all over Austria to finally get back to the Kartause at 10 p.m. It was good a last trip!

" . . . I Hope You Had the Time of Your Life"

We walked out of our cabin Saturday morning and discovered that Grindelwald is GORGEOUS! We had not been able to tell the night before because it was so dark but the town is completely surrounded by incredibly beautiful mountains!

We had a lovely little breakfast at our hostel: cereal and some delicious soft bread smothered in orange marmalade! I then had a few minutes to e-mail my family and let them know how I was doing before we headed down to the tourist office to find out what there was to do in Grindelwald. The woman in the office directed us to a free hiking trail along the river. Before heading out, however, we stopped at the coop to grab the necessities for a picnic lunch by the river.

We then headed down, taking tons of pictures along the way! We reached the river and it was lovely! There was even an adorable little bridge across a babbling brook that flowed into the river! And there were cows! We were always very excited when we saw animals!

So we followed the path along the river until we came to one point at which we decided to climb down the rocky riverbank and dip our toes in the river. The water was FREEZING!!!! But it was so much fun! We spent about a half hour just climbing along the riverbank and I got to live my dream of being Pocahontas! Ever since I was little I used to dream about doing crazy stuff like climbing along riverbanks and I would even pretend that my hallway was a river and I would jump across it but I never thought I'd get to climb around an actual river! So i got really into it, to the point that I actually managed to fall in twice! I wanted to get to the other side of the river but there was no way I could manage it so that didn't happen.

We continued along the river a little farther until we came to a spot that seemed like a good place for a picnic! So we sat down and puled out our bread, grapes, pistachios, potato chips, and chocolate bars and had a lovely picnic by the riverside. I decided that I'm going to continue having picnics over the summer! They're just so lovely!

We then headed around the river and back toward Grindelwald. Maude and I began singing the song Landslide and then Maude was like "I don't think we're singing the same song." And I was like What are you talking about of course we're singing the same song! And she was like "Who does the song you're singing?" And I was like "Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac." And she was like "Oh thank goodness, I was afraid you were gonna say the Dixie Chicks!" Hahaha The song Remembering You by Steven Curtis Chapman also came into my head and Time of Your Life by Greenday. Disclaimer: I am not a fan of Greenday. However, the three lines of that song: "It's something unpredictable/But in the end it's right/I hope you had the time of your life" just totally described this weekend for me! Hence the titles of these blog posts. We even got to frolic in a field on our way back to Grindelwald!

We then took a train to Interlocken which was ok but not as cool as Zermatt and Grindelwald. We walked down the main street and then attempted to find the lake but to no avail. We did find several rivers though so that was cool. We then stopped at a kiosk and got sandwiches and ice cream for dinner. We then took the train to Zurich and then got on a train to St. Polten on which we actually got a compartment all to ourselves! And yet I still didn't get a good night's sleep. Alas. But I took a nice long nap when we got back to the Kartause. And that was Switzerland!

" . . . But In The End Its Right . . . "

When last I left you I was sleeping peacefully on the train to Zurich. Until, of course, the conductor whipped open the door to our compartment and babbled loudly at us in German! I was so confused! Eventually I figured out that she was the conductor and wanted to see our tickets. Sigh, I didn't get any more sleep on that train. However, I did get to see a gorgeous sun! It was big and orange and beautiful and reflected in the lake!

We then got on the train to our next destination and I did get to take a nap then. After that we had to take a train up the mountain to the small town of Zermatt. And, of course, because it was a special train, they didn't accept our Eurail passes so we had to buy tickets. But we made it to Zermatt which is the important thing.

Our first stop was the Tourist Office where we picked up a map and asked the lady what we could do that was cheap. So she pointed us in the direction of a free hike that we could take. We stopped at the Coop (grocery store) first to get some lunch. Combined we got bread, cheese, grapes, pistachios, cookies, beef jerky, and nutella. Oh and I got a giant thing of peach iced tea. So we walked to the bottom of the trail and found a bench to have a little picnic on. You wouldn't believe how filling bread grapes pistachios and cookies can be! It was one of the best meals I ever ate!

We then headed off on our hike which I was really dreading cuz my physical stamina totals a whopping ZERO! But it was so gorgeous I ended up loving it! And we took it pretty slow so I never felt overwhelmed and I didn't even care when I did get exhausted cuz I was so busy looking at all the beauty around me! It turns out we actually took a different trail then the one we had originally intended to but it was obviously the work of God cuz we ended up on the religious (aka Jesus) themed trail! It was so cool!

We had been hoping to see wildlife on our hike and so we were very excited when we saw a whole herd of sheep! And they baa-ed!!!! And the little ones were so cute and fluffy! I wanted to buy one and bring it home as a pet! But I don't think I could've gotten it on the plane.

The trail actually reminded me a little of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Island which our family usually visits on Good Friday. Obviously I wasn't able to go this year but Jesus apparently really wanted me to have that experience so He made it happen in SWITZERLAND!!!! I prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet as we walked. We eventually got to a spot where we decided to stop. So I began my Rosary and, once rested, decided to continue a little way along the trail. I just wanted to see what was around that next bend. And that next one. And that next one. Yeah I definitely went further than I meant to but it was so gorgeous I just couldn't stop! And it gave me time to finish my Rosary and to just be alone with Jesus and His Mama in His beautiful creation!

I eventually turned around and returned to our rest stop where I found my friends standing on top of this giant boulder like they were on top of the world! We then hurried back to town so we would have time to grab dinner before we had to catch our train.

However, we necessarily stopped at the Church first which was beautiful. There was actually a very interesting painting of Noah's Ark on the ceiling.

After visiting Jesus we stopped by some souvenire shops and then went in search of dinner only to discover that everything in Zermatt is ridiculously expensive - a cheeseburger at McDonald's was 11 francs! So we went to the coop and got sandwiches.

We then took a couple trains to get to the other small town of Grindelwald. Yes, Harry Potter fans, Grindelwald, as in the dark wizard that Dumbledore defeated. I took a picture of the sign for my brother Raymond. We then got to our hostel which was actually made up of a bunch of cabins like campground cabins. And we had a six person room all to ourselves! It was really nice!

"It's Something Unpredictable . . . "

So I was planning on going to Barcelona this past weekend. But we would've had to take a 24 hour train ride there and then we couldn't get a reservation for one of the trains and it was getting ridiculous so it didn't work out. (But don't fret, it looks like I still might get to go, say a prayer that it works out!)

I found this out Wednesday night and the weekend started on Thursday night. However, earlier that day I had discovered that two of my good friends, Maude and Christa, were going to Switzerland for the weekend. I had not had any particular desire to go to Switzerland and I wasn't planning on getting there at any point this semester. But, for some reason, even though I thought I was going to Barcelona, I immediately had this desire to join Maude and Christa on their trip. So when I discovered that I would not be going to Barcelona I asked Maude if I could join them in Switzerland. So I spent Thursday throwing clothes into my backpack and e-mailing my family so they would know that I was gallavanting through Switzerland.

As a sidenote we had a lovely, impromptu, MOS/Disciples dinner on Thursday which was wonderful! And then, as my household sister Chrissy and I were walking across the courtyard Chrissy apparently noticed the swingset and was like "Can I make a request?" and I was like "Sure, what?" and she was like "Can we jump off the swings?" and I was like "Now?" and she was like "Yeah" and I was like "Ok but we have to run cuz I've still gotta pack!" So we ran across the courtyard, jumped over some hedges, got on the swings and swung until we were high enough to jump off! Oh my gosh I haven't done that in years! And I've never had a sister to do it with before! I LOVE SISTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways . . . so I packed really quick, ran downstairs, met up with Christa and Maude and we walked to the train station. As usual, a walk with Christa and Maude takes longer than a walk with anyone else cuz you've gotta stop and take pictures. So we made it to the train station about 3 minutes before the train departed. The train to St. Polten was fun, especially when the door between the cars flew open and scared us all.

We then had a 45 minute wait in St. Polten where we met up with our other travelling buddy, Julie. Our next train was a night train to Zurich. Unfortunately we had to share a compartment with a couple who I don't think were very happy to have us join them. But it was kind of cramped so Julie and Christa went to another compartment with only one person in it. I was having trouble falling asleep and then the couple in our compartment got off at one of the stops so Maude and I each had 3 seats to sprawl out on and I was finally able to fall asleep.

To Be Continued . . .

" . . . Let It Be"

On Monday we were up early to get the shuttle to the airport. Yeah, that shuttle driver was crazy! We were going SO fast! I was a little concerned. But we made it to the airport alive. We were pretty early so I had time to eat a lovely breakfast of apple turnover and orange juice. And then I froze in the stupid little gate area until it was time to board. I'm pretty sure I slept on the flight.

Once in Vienna we got a bus to the train station and a train to Gaming. We met up with a whole bunch of Franciscan students on the way so we got to hear all about everyone's trips.

And then we got off the train in Gaming and it was cold and rainy and we had a 45 minute walk to the Kartause but I've discovered that that walk is a great opportunity for prayer - I can usually do a Chaplet, a Rosary, and a nine-minute Novena and have a little time left over.

And yeah I think that's it.